Sci-fi author’s estate locked in will dispute

By Kristin M. Hall

The author’s will had been updated several times.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Andre Norton, one of science fiction’s most prolific female writers until she died three years ago, intrigued her readers by creating hundreds of fantasy worlds during her 70 years of writing.

And in a decision that may have been accidental or calculated, she left her friends and fans a final puzzle: Who should control the rights to her more than 130 books, including the popular “Witch World” series.

Like a plot out of a novel, conflicting claims have erupted over the copyrights and royalties of Norton’s work. One comes from the woman who cared for Norton in her later years, the other from a fan who contends he’s better suited to care for Norton’s literary legacy.

As courts sort out the disputes, Norton’s unpublished works are on hold, leaving collaborating authors and Norton fans eager for a resolution.

Norton began writing in the 1930s and defied gender stereotypes by becoming the first woman to win the Grand Master of Fantasy award from the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Nebula Grand Master Award.

Born Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland in 1912, she took up the pen name Andre because she thought it would appeal to the predominantly young, male audience for science fiction, adventure and fantasy novels.

One of those fans was Victor Horadam, who began reading Norton’s work about age 9. His enthusiasm eventually developed into a lifelong relationship with the author, and the two exchanged hundreds of letters before she died in March 2005 at age 93.

“I love books and read many, many authors,” said Horadam, who is a Dallas-based oncologist, “but there hasn’t been an author that has touched me as much as she has.”

Horadam said he identified with Norton’s honorable, young characters who struggled in life and triumphed in the end. As a young reader, he was drawn to her style of writing that combined mystery and adventure without glorifying violence.

“I remember going to the corner store and getting the latest book and not going to sleep until I finished it,” Horadam said. “Easy to read in one sitting.”

Norton’s work is often characterized as science fiction, but she told The Associated Press in 1999, “I don’t like technology. I was always more interested in how people reacted to technology.”

Instead, she created her fantasy worlds based on careful research of American and European history, anthropology and cultural history. The “Witch World” series, which encompassed more than 30 novels, details life on an imaginary planet reachable only through hidden gateways.

Norton moved to Murfreesboro, a Nashville suburb, in the 1990s and established a writer’s research library. As she got older, the library was closed and Norton, who had no children or other close relatives, moved in with her caretaker, Sue Stewart. Over the years, she gave Stewart more than $250,000, according to court testimony.

Norton updated her will several times and in the final version said she wanted to be cremated with a copy of her first and last books, and wanted her estate split among co-authors, friends and Stewart.

Stewart was named as the beneficiary of the “residuary clause” — all other property or money not explicitly assigned in the will.

But the will also said that Norton’s longtime fan, Horadam, was to get “the royalties from all posthumous publication of any of my works.”

Stewart contends the will intends for her, not Horadam, to get the royalty income from any works published before Norton died.

Horadam went to court, asking a judge to provide an interpretation of “posthumous publication.”

Stewart could not be reached to comment, but her attorney says Norton’s close friends in Tennessee testified that they were surprised that Norton didn’t leave control of her literary works to Stewart. The judge also heard from Norton herself thanks to a video recording.

“In the video, about a few months before her final execution of the will, she says she wants everything to go to Sue,” said attorney Dicken Kidwell. “In that video, she says, ‘All I have is yours.’ I don’t know how it could be much more explicit.”

But a Tennessee judge ruled in favor of Horadam, saying Norton used the terms royalties and copyrights interchangeably in her will and “posthumous publication” meant any publication of her works after her death, including reprints. The judge said Horadam had greater appreciation for the literary works than the caretaker.

At least 20 Norton titles are still in print and in bookstores today, and many were translated into foreign languages, according to Jim Frenkel, Norton’s longtime editor at Tom Doherty Associates, a branch of Macmillan that publishes science fiction and fantasy.

Court filings indicate that at the time of her death Norton was receiving between $70,000 and $80,000 a year in royalty payments. Horadam says he’s not concerned about the money but is more interested in preserving Norton’s literary legacy.

“To me, it would seem that Andre meant for me to get the copyrights and manage those,” Horadam said. “There’s a big responsibility with her estate. It would be something that I would be willing to do.”

More than three years after her last novel, “Three Hands for Scorpio,” was published shortly after her death, the future of Norton’s works remains unclear.

The case is under review by the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and Frenkel says until the will is resolved, any unpublished Norton works are on hold.

“My impression is there are projects that are in limbo because of her estate,” he said. At least one involves a contract for an unpublished book by Norton and co-author Mercedes Lackey, he said.

Frenkel, who preferred not to take sides in the dispute, said it’s a troubling last chapter to a great writing career.

“It’s very hard to know exactly who the good guys are and who the bad guys are,” Frenkel said. “It’s upsetting.”